A group of Langley seniors decided to have a little holiday fun this past weekend.
As numerous Christmas tree farms are set to open up soon in rural Langley, volunteers (most of them Langley seniors) at the Penny Pinchers thrift store attempted to put a fun new twist on an old holiday icon.
They set up a Christmas tree lot in their downtown Langley City parking lot for one day only, complete with a very animated and jovial Santa attracting attention, said Diane Thornton.
Ironically, there was not one live tree on the lot, added Gillott, past president of Langley Memorial Hospital Auxiliary – the organization that has been running Penny Pinchers thrift store for more than 40 years.
Instead, they created a forest of artificial Christmas trees – with trees of all sizes and shapes that had been donated to the charity thrift store throughout the year, Thornton explained.
“It was a very successful event. We sold lots of trees, which we are very happy about,” she added, crediting the creative minds of some similarly “grey-haired” auxiliary members with coming up with the fun idea.
In addition to selling about 20 trees during the course of a few hours, she said the thrift store was also able to sell close to $1,000 in other holiday items, everything from tree stands and lights, to household decorations.
With an appearance from Santa, and the serving of hot chocolate, popcorn, and sweets, it turned out to be a “really fun day” they want to duplicate.
While there will be trees for sale again next weekend, Thornton said there won’t be an event.
“We will definitely do it again next year, though, and keep our fingers crossed for good weather,” she said, noting Saturday’s sunshine combined with a team of generous volunteers undoubtedly helped make the inaugural sale a success.
